The Maui Diet: Blog

Check my morning weigh-in’s over this 4-week stretch:

This was a very impressive weight loss. First, because it is challenging for me to lose weight, like almost everyone over age 40. It’s true for me, even as a weight loss professional.

But my loss was doubly impressive because I made just one small, painless change in my eating habits. What a significant change it turned out to be.
I was on my regular eating and exercise program, but during this time, I dropped my over-consumption of nuts and seeds. I went from 6-7-8 handfuls a day to less than one—I started strictly watching my limit. And the pounds plummeted.

Raw nuts and seeds are healthy, nutritious food choices, as long as they are raw, not roasted like the ones in the blue and yellow can, which are also heavily salted. But raw or roasted (never eat the roasted), nuts are high in fat. Which is why, as a lover of food and particularly fattening foods, I was way over-eating these otherwise healthy foods. Nuts, as you’ve probably heard, must indeed be eaten sparingly by anyone interested in getting lean. I looked, I learned, I took action, I got results.

It really pays to be vigilant when you’re going for a lean, fit body. I had to take a truthful look at every aspect of my diet and exercise to find I was way overeating nuts and seeds.
Then I had to take action to correct the flaw. When I did, the payoffs and rewards were spectacular.
Check out www.themauidiet.com for more great tips.

We got confirmation on the nightmare I wrote of in my post, If Man Made It, Don’t Eat It. A company making health food snacks recalled foods, saying they could be contaminated with salmonella. The company is Robert’s American Gourmet Inc. I said forget the salmonella, as bad as that is. A deeper concern is these products being recalled are actually made by another, unnamed company, not by Robert’s.

We know nothing about who makes this product that contains salmonella, and I guessed it might be a company in China. Good guess. Because on July 6 it was revealed this spray-on seasoning suspected of causing salmonella was made with imported Chinese ingredients.

This is a true nightmare. Because any American company can use ingredients that come from China or anywhere else in the world, and not disclose where the ingredients come from. And China food products are a nightmare.

Ralph Nader reminded us on the same day all this was revealed that congress passed “a country of origin” law that is supposed to give us information on where food comes from, but it is not enforced. Sound familiar? Our government, particularly at the federal level, fails abysmally to protect us. So it is up to us.

Step one is to buy no food product from China; that’s what I started doing some time ago, and I stand solidly behind this advice. Step two is to make sure any food you buy does not contain anything from China; take particular care in the area of vitamins and supplements. I no longer take vitamins or supplements but a lot of people do. That is a mistake, I believe, on its own, but particularly since China has cornered the market on many of these. One American vitamin company is coming out with a “China-free product” on its labeling. Look for that if you’re buying vitamins.

But best is to get your vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from a balanced diet of whole, fresh, natural foods, emphasizing plant-based foods much more than animal; the more locally grown, the better. Foods just as they come from nature. Organically grown if possible.

With our government failing so miserably to protect us in this area, it has never been more important to follow the advice, If man made it, don’t eat it. Eat whole, fresh, natural foods—got it?
For more go to www.themauidiet.com

More great reasons to eat what The Maui Diet recommends—whole, fresh, natural foods, just the way they’re grown in nature.
A company recently recalled the second of its foods in two weeks, saying both could be contaminated with salmonella. The first was something called Veggie Booty Snack Food; the latest to be recalled is a popular snack food called Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks Snack Food.
Forget the salmonella. Contaminated or not, these are not to be eaten by anyone interested in a good diet. I call these types of products phony health food. They have nothing to do with health, but they use words like Veggie to put a veneer of healthiness on the product.
But whatever they’re called, the first dead giveaway is that they are a product, or a manufactured food. Processed, packaged. Far from whole, fresh, natural food, in other words. They’re junk food, and have no place in a wholesome, nutrient-rich natural diet, which is what you should shoot for.
But another part of this story is deeper, subtler, worth checking out and understanding. Taken with other food news recently, it gives us more reasons to eat whole, fresh, natural foods exclusively. You see, this product being recalled is actually made under contract by another, unnamed company. It is not even made by Robert’s American Gourmet Inc, the company doing the recalling. Wow.
Why not name that company, the one that is actually manufacturing this food product?
We consumers no nothing at all about this company that makes this product that is now suspected of containing salmonella.
It might be based in China. Or Mexico. Or countless other countries. Who knows? Only Robert’s American Gourmet Inc, and they’re not naming the company or where it’s at.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Remember, the FDA is not looking out for your best interests, far, far from it. To repeat, if it’s a manufactured, so-called “food product,” no matter what the name or health claims or things like “Zero Trans Fat!” on the label, move away from it. Put more simply, if man made it, don’t eat it. Stick with whole, fresh, natural foods, as closely as possible.

For more go to TheMauiDiet.com